Basic Research Methodology Workshop – Are they effective in Improving Research Competency among Medical Postgraduates

Dr. Asha Rani N; Dr. Aliya Nusrath; Dr. Madhav K Savkar

Volume : VIII, Issue : VI, June - 2019

Basic Research Methodology Workshop – Are they effective in Improving Research Competency among Medical Postgraduates

Dr. Asha Rani N, Dr. Aliya Nusrath, Dr. Madhav K Savkar

Abstract :

Background: Recent guidelines and regulations recommend change in post–graduate curriculum, where research methodology is an integral part of medical education. Hence, training in the basic concepts of research methodology is must for the postgraduates. In this regard the workshop was organized and the study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the basic research methodology workshop in improving the research competency among postgraduates Methods: A workshop on basic research methodology was conducted for 1st year postgraduate. A predesigned, structured questionnaire tool was prepared with 21 multiple choice questions related to the topics to be covered in the workshop. The same tool was used to assess both the base line (pre–test) and after intervention (post–test) knowledge of the participants. Data expressed as frequency, proportion, mean score and SD. Pre and post –test mean scores were compared using student paired t test and McNemer test was employed to check the question wise difference between pre and post test scores. A p value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: Out of 45 participants, 24 (53.3%) were males and 21 (46.7%) were females. The pre–test mean score was 8.71 � 3.28 and the post –test mean score was 13.2 � 3.27. The difference between mean score of pretest and post–test was statistically significant (p<0.0001). There was an increase in the scores in the areas pertaining to components of title (p=0.000), research question /hypothesis (p=0.000) and need for the study writing and also in basic concepts of types of data and its presentations (p=0.02) and reference writing (p=0.001) which was statistically significant. In the pre–test only 29% of the participants scored above 50% whereas in the post–test > 85% of the participants scored above 50% of the marks. Conclusion: The workshop improved the participant�s knowledge in the basic principles of research methodology. Thus formal training and workshops on research methodology can be used to familiarize the concepts of research in early years of postgraduate training.